5.

"I suppose even the heavens hate that I killed the one I loved with my own hands, as I contracted an incurable disease and died on the path of a peace mission. This must be the heavens' punishment for a general who did not die on the battlefield but perished on a diplomatic journey."

Liu Sheng offered her a cup of water from the river of Forgetfulness, which had been previously prepared with the tea made from the flowers of the riverbank, turning the red water clear. "Fate is a mysterious thing. What do you want to know?"

Ye Xiao frowned and looked at Liu Sheng with confusion: "Why did Song Lanting force the palace coup? He held a position second only to the emperor, wielding great power. Besides the throne, he already had everything. Why would someone like him do such a thing?"

Liu Sheng gently tapped the surface of the water with a finger, and the image in the cup slowly revealed a scene from their childhood. It seemed they were natural rivals, always fighting at the slightest provocation. Song Lanting couldn't beat her in a fight, and she couldn't argue with him. They constantly looked down on each other. But from when did he start to get used to her fiery temper, to notice what she was doing each day?

Song Lanting heard the rumors spread by the nobles about their relationship and, despite trying to deny them, he found himself secretly pleased. Although he often wished she would return to the border post when she beat him all over the place, he suddenly felt like enduring her beatings for the rest of his life when he thought he wouldn't see her anymore after she returned to the border.

But he couldn't stop her from leaving. She was the descendant of the Ye family, as his mother had said, she would spend her life guarding Yanmen Pass, becoming a hero in the eyes of the world, that was her fate.

Song Lanting, however, didn't believe in fate. He wanted to make this hero, spoken of by the world, into his own private hero.

Her letters to him were always very plain in language. He would hold the letter and imagine her sitting up straight as she wrote, and couldn't help but smile. When he sent the pair of bells, he had made up his mind that upon receiving her reply, he would inform his parents of his intentions and propose to the Ye family.

But he waited and waited, and what he got instead was the news that the entire Ye family had died in battle.

It was as if someone had torn out his heart. By the time he realized it, he was already rushing towards Yanmen Pass. When he saw her, her stubborn eyes were filled with an unspeakable sadness.

All words seemed futile and feeble. He didn't dare to expose her hidden fragility, only telling her, "Ah Ye, you still have a home."

You still have me.

Ye Xiao was a military general, and she wouldn't think about why the relief army was just blocked by a trap in the valley. Song Lanting was different; he was clever and adept at observing people's hearts since childhood, and he was a capable official in the court. Logically speaking, Ye Xiao's unauthorized execution of the relief army general should have been questioned, but in the end, it was ignored by everyone. He grasped this suspicious point and investigated bit by bit, only to find that evidence of the former Prime Minister Pei Zhong's treason and collusion with the enemy began to surface.

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At that time, he was just a sixth-ranking official, insignificant and powerless. Getting solid evidence of Pei Zhong's treason and collusion was even harder than ascending to the heavens. He couldn't tell Ye Xiao for fear of tipping off Pei Zhong, so he could only slowly lay out his plans. In the court, he pretended to flatter others to win the emperor's favor and was appointed as a vizier, gaining Pei Zhong's trust and even getting engaged to Pei Yan. Finally, he obtained Pei Zhong's letters of treason and collusion.

When he handed these evidences to the emperor, joy filled his eyes. He had finally avenged Ah Ye, he had finally been able to do something for her.

He knew she would return to the capital when Pei Zhong was executed, and then he would propose to her, give her a home.

But he forgot his own status. After Pei Zhong was imprisoned, he became the prime minister, the second most powerful person in the empire, with officials in the court following his lead. Yet the person he wanted to marry was a general in charge of the military and border defense. Such a union, the emperor would never allow.

When he inadvertently revealed his feelings for Ye Xiao, he keenly sensed the emperor's murderous intent. Even his mother warned him, "If you want to be with Xiao-You, one of you will have to give up power."

To dispel the emperor's suspicions, he deliberately pleaded for Pei Yan's leniency and publicly slapped Ye Xiao in front of everyone, creating an appearance of a rift between them.

After that, Song Lanting started to plan step by step how to bring Ye Xiao back from Yanmen Pass. Such a dangerous place, how could he bear for her to spend her whole life there.

Ye Xiao's serious injury that time finally made Song Lanting decide that he could no longer delay. Whenever he thought she might die on the border, he felt as if he was back on the day he heard that the entire Ye family had died in battle, as if his heart was torn out, and he trembled all over.

Song Lanting successfully moved Ye Xiao back to the capital, stripped her of her military power, and now she was just an utterly useless Marquis of Peace. All he needed was some more time to reconcile with her, and then he would give up his power and take her away from here.

However, fate played a joke on him, and the emperor of the Northern Di tribe died at that time, throwing all his plans into disarray.

Song Lanting could not stop Emperor Qin's decision, but how could he stand by and watch her marry into another country? He had no choice but to take a risky move and ally with the Crown Prince to force the palace coup. He incited the Crown Prince, knowing that Emperor Qin favored the Fourth Prince Qin Qi, and although he had been sent far away to Yanmen Pass, there were soldiers trained by the Ye family there. Would Emperor Qin still hand over the throne to him if one day Qin Qi had the support of the most elite army of the Qin Dynasty?

The Crown Prince was indeed moved and secretly plotted the coup with him. Song Lanting's only condition was that the Crown Prince recall Ye Xiao and let them both leave after ascending the throne. They would fly far away together.

But alas, he did not have the favor of the heavens. He eventually failed, he died in the hands of the woman he loved, and she did not know that he loved her so much.

A tear dropped into the cup of wine made from the flowers of the riverbank, and Ye Xiao looked up at Liu Sheng, her brows and eyes tightly furrowed: "The truth I wanted to know is so cruel."

Liu Sheng put away the cup and poured clear water into the river of Forgetfulness: "The truth has always been too hard to look at."

She stood up unsteadily: "Thank you for letting me know all this, I should go."

Liu Sheng stopped her: "Do you still want to live?"

She smiled, let out a long sigh.

"He's dead, what's the point of me living?"

She stepped into the river of Forgetfulness, was engulfed by the churning waters, and finally disappeared completely.